Army recruits’ alleged s3xual assault, robbery and torture in UNIOSUN

THE streets of Osogbo witnessed a disturbing spectacle on Monday, June 29 as students of the Osun State University (UNIOSUN) took to the streets in protest against the alleged invasion of privately-owned hostels in the Oke Baale area by soldiers, resulting in s3xual assault of female students, brutalisation of male students and outright theft of valuables.

This is not merely a campus disturbance. This is an affront to the dignity of young Nigerians who have every right to pursue their education in safety and without fear. The accounts are harrowing: female students forced to strip and s3xually assaulted, male students beaten, and laptops and phones, the essential tools of modern scholarship, stolen by those who swore to defend the nation. If these allegations prove to be true, and there is no reason to doubt the courage of the students who have come forward, then we are witnessing a profound failure of military discipline that demands the fullest accountability. To his credit, the UNIOSUN Vice-Chancellor, Professor Odunayo Clement Adebooye, did not hesitate. His immediate on-the-spot assessment of the damaged hostels and his decision to join the student protest sent an unequivocal message: the university stands with its students. “The university strongly condemns every form of harassment, intimidation, assault or violation of the dignity and fundamental rights of its students. No member of the university community should be subjected to any form of abuse under any circumstance,” he declared. These are not empty words; they are a necessary commitment from institutional leadership.

Equally commendable has been the response of the military authorities. Major Abdullahi Ibrahim, Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Army Depot, Osogbo, has described the incident as “unfortunate” and “unlike the tradition of the Army.” More importantly, arrests have been made and the commandant has ordered a thorough investigation with a clear mandate to punish those found culpable. In a subsequent statement, the Army also appealed to the alleged victims of assault and eyewitnesses with verifiable information, including videos, photographs, medical records or statements, to present such evidence confidentially to the Board of Inquiry at the Headquarters of Depot Nigerian Army, Osogbo, or through the Army Public Relations Office. This swift and professional response is precisely what the situation demands. Discipline, after all, is the bedrock of the military profession and, indeed, any successful organisation. Yet the nation cannot afford to treat this as an isolated aberration. The presence of a military facility close to the university should ordinarily be a source of comfort and security, a reassuring symbol of protection for students far from home. That this proximity instead became a source of terror is deeply troubling. If recruits just beginning their military lives have already committed such heinous crimes, as has been reported across the national media, it signals a level of chaos that Nigeria simply cannot tolerate.

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Consider the broader context: Nigerian students are already fleeing from terrorists in the North-East, bandits in the North-West and kidnappers across multiple regions. The last thing they need is to fear the very forces deployed to protect them. The anguish of victims, their parents and the wider community can only be imagined. Parents who entrust their children to universities should not have to worry about whether the soldiers next door will become predators after dark. The good news is that this appears to be an anomaly. Such incidents have almost never happened before. The military authorities have demonstrated that they do not take this kind of misconduct lightly. The collaboration between the army and university authorities is encouraging and must be deepened. The university’s commendation of the prompt response from the Army Depot leadership suggests a mature relationship that can weather this crisis and emerge stronger.

The broader strategic context must also be recognised. The establishment of military depots in Osun and Ebonyi represents one of the laudable steps taken by the Bola Tinubu government to expand military presence and enhance national security. These depots should serve as pillars of community security, not sources of community anxiety. If disciplined, the soldiers stationed there would never have nurtured such destructive thoughts, let alone acted upon them. The army authorities will certainly not take this lightly, and neither should the country. As UNIOSUN has rightly assured parents, guardians and stakeholders, the safety and well-being of students remain the highest priority. The university has pledged to monitor developments closely and work with appropriate authorities to ensure that justice is done. Affected students have been urged to remain calm and law-abiding. This call for restraint demonstrates institutional maturity even in the face of outrage.

This incident must become a turning point. Efforts must be made to ensure it never recurs. Mutual collaboration between military authorities and educational institutions must be institutionalised. It should not be merely episodic. Regular engagement, clear protocols for military-civilian interaction and unambiguous consequences for misconduct are essential. Justice must not only be done in this case. It must be seen to be done. Anything less would be a betrayal of trust and the commitment to protect Nigerian students from harm.